The Pride Of Frankenstein

How do you know when something is funny?
Everybody has theories about comedy. Basically, most comedy writers will tell you that comedy is surprise, it catches you off guard, that's why it's hysterical. They're not wrong, but that's not the whole story. That's why the movie "Young Frankenstein" is a great reference. Some of the biggest laughs are recognition and anticipation, and when those things are delivered you're in comedy heaven.

Is it true that when you collaborated with writers on TV—or was it with Carl Reiner?—that a joke wouldn't stay in a show unless the stenographer rolled over laughing?
You know, Carl and I didn't write "The 2000 Year Old Man." Carl would ask me absurd questions: "Sir, it's hard to believe you're 2,000; do you have any proof?" I would say, "My birth certificate. It's in the Land of Oz, it's a big stone, I can't carry it around with me, it's a boulder." The joy of that was that most of it was ad-lib. I never knew what he was going to ask me. In this musical, if Tom [Meehan, Brooks's co-writer] and I didn't break up, it's not in the show. If we fall about, then we keep it. Most of the jokes are good because we're tough to break up, and we laughed a lot, so it must be a good show.

Do you still hang out with Carl Reiner?
Yeah. When I worked at Fox, Alan Ladd Jr. was the studio chief, and all you had to do was write down an idea on a napkin and write a price under it that you thought you could make it for and shove it under his door, and the next thing you'd get a call and he'd say, "Make it," and that was the end of it. So I still meet with Alan Ladd Jr.—"Laddie" we call him—Paul Mazursky, who was on the third floor at Fox, and the producer Mike Gruskoff. We meet for lunch out in L.A.—I won't tell you where because I don't want to be bugged. It's all the old-timers, Jay Kantor—who was Marilyn, Marlon's and Grace Kelly's agent—and the legendary agent Freddie Fields. We try to meet every Friday, tell each other bad jokes, news of the rialto. It's a great treat.

Are they coming in to see the show?
They're all coming opening night.

Is Wilder coming?
That's a secret. Gene is very circumspect and doesn't want anybody aware of anything. Gene was already here; he saw a Saturday matinee. It must have been bittersweet for him because it's his baby, but he laughed. I didn't want to sit with him because I didn't want to embarrass him, but I had four spies around him, and he laughed his head off and he cried a few times.

There's been this controversy over your $450 ticket price. What's that about?